My garden has pretty much been destroyed. Only the big plants have survived. And you might be thinking to yourself, why S.D – has your garden been destroyed? And I would say back to you, because of my four-legged friends (I have four, so that is actually 16 legs trampling around in my flower beds, well actually only 12 legs because our Great Dane has a phobia of walking on grass), who have no respect at all for tender annuals and struggling perrenials.
So, it was a shock, when I discovered (while taking the garbage out this summer) my banana plants, had actually grown bananas. I had no idea one could grow bananas in the Central Valley of California. But – apparently one can.
And why didn’t I tell you about this sooner? Well, I had actually forgotten about them until yesterday, when I was cleaning out the gutters. The Weather Channel is predicting a “Stormfest” – three huge storms are heading our way. And it was while I was on the ladder, that I aspied my long forgotten bananas. The way they grow is fascinating. First – there is a huge maroon pod which appears, and as each layer of that pod falls off, another row of little, tiny bananas appear. And the process continues, row after row, until there is a huge bunch of bananas just hanging there.
Did I harvest any of them? No – because I wasn’t really sure how to, and besides – I don’t have a machete. I need a machete. I like saying that word – machete! Perhaps I will get a machete in preparation for this coming year’s bananas. Must have a machete!
